During the Summer of 2018 it became clear that Castle Cary would lose its library as a result of a cost-cutting exercise by the County Council, unless the community was prepared to largely resource it themselves. Offers of practical help came flooding in, with many people signing up to become Friends of the Library.
A small steering group was set up which later achieved charitable status as the Friends of Castle Cary Community Library. Significant financial contributions from the local councils meant that a realistic budget for running it could be created. A volunteer team was formed to manage and staff the library. The Friends were thus able to enter a formal Community Partnership with the County Council, under which the County Council helps to finance it for a set period in return for the continued availability of all the books and other resources which the County Library service provides.
Under this new regime, Castle Cary Library continues to serve a wide area centred on the town.
It is one of 145 public libraries linked through the Libraries West which is a partnership between the library services of Bath & North East Somerset, Bristol, Dorset, North Somerset, Poole, Somerset and South Gloucestershire. This enables you to borrow and renew books from any library throughout the consortium area
Author: Jim Smith
